Rocket Kapre – Fantastic Filipino Speculative Fiction

In this breakthrough graphic novel from the award-winning author of Mercury, there’s a new superhero in town—and she’s got kick-butt cyberpowers.

Meet Lin, a formerly average teenage girl whose cell phone zaps her with magical powers. But just as superpowers can travel through the ether, so can evil. As Lin starts to get a handle on her new abilities (while still observing her curfew!), she realizes she has to go head-to-head with a nefarious villain who spreads his influence through binary code. And as if that weren’t enough, a teen blogger has dubbed her an “anonymous coward!” Can Lin detect the cyber-criminal’s vulnerability, save the day, and restore her reputation?

With ingenious scripting from graphic novel phenom Hope Larson and striking art from manga illustrator Tintin Pantoja, this action-packed story brims with magical realism and girl-power goodness.

The workshop is only on a dry run right now. I hope to offer it to students during the school year on a weekly weekend basis. I just went online looking for comic schools and didn’t find any, so I thought it might be a good niche to fill, if people were  interested in learning to make comics I don’t know if Elbert Or’s workshop is still ongoing? It might be nice to trade notes with him, if he is. Anyway, a couple of my Indonesian friends put up comic/manga schools in Jakarta and I thought it might be a fun thing to do here. If anyone’s interested in the comic workshop, it’s a two-hour eight/nine-session program in which we make a short comic from script to final coloring/ tones. Email me at tintinp@gmail.com! The first MWF summer sessions starts April 12!

I have no idea. the future’s kinda wide open at this point. I don’t really have plans or ongoing projects.

The Summer Komikon is this Saturday, April 13, once again at the Bayanihan Center. The Mythspace Team will have four new stories (and limited copies of Mythspace #0) available at the event, so it seemed like an opportune time to provide a reader’s guide for our new offerings. But first off, here’s where we’ll be on Saturday:

We’ll have four Mythspace stories out on Saturday, as well as Pilandokomiks (a book illustrated  by “Mythspace: An Unfurling of Wings” artist Borg Sinaban) as well as some second hand graphic novels. Here’s a breakdown of the Mythspace titles so you can decide which is right for you (with the answer hopefully being: All of Them):

Title:  Mythspace: Black Mark

Artist:  Paul Quiroga

Writer: Paolo Chikiamco

Genre: Science Fiction / Action / Mecha

Price: 60 pesos.

Synopsis: What if the creatures from Philippine folklore — the tikbalangs, nuno, kapre — were inspired by sightings of actual alien races? That’s the question that fuels the Mythspace stories.

In “Black Mark”, readers gain insight into the fractious society of the crafty Nuno, where political zealots (who tint their skins to signify their party loyalties) have the government in a persistent state of gridlock. Yet, legend has it that there is a faction that transcends politics: the legendary Black, a task force that is authorized to go to extreme measures to safeguard Nuno society. Helmless Mang, a pariah on his home planet, is about to find out that the Black are very real — and both more powerful and more terrible than that the stories would have you believe…

Reading Notes: Stand-alone story, but provides insight into the Nuno, the race of Qu in Lift-off. Nunos also play roles in Humanity and Devourers of Light.

Folklore Notes: I combined the Nuno and Dwende from folklore to form the Nuno race — the idea of different Nuno types being distinguished by skin color comes from stories about the dwende. The Bungis were one-eyed giants in our folklore.

Title:  Mythspace: Humanity

Artist: Cristina Rose Chua

Writer: Paolo Chikiamco

Genre: Science Fiction / Drama

Price: 60 pesos.

Synopsis: What if the creatures from Philippine folklore — the tikbalangs, nuno, kapre — were inspired by sightings of actual alien races? That’s the question that fuels the Mythspace stories.

In “Humanity”, the descendants of humans abductees (taken from Earth centuries ago) labor as slave-miners in the asteroid fields of the materialistic Kataw. Danny and Marta are two young miners, thrust into dire straits when a stroke of good fortune leads to a calculating betrayal. When salvation comes in the form of the legendary Dalakitnon — Free Humans — both of them must decide for themselves what they would give up, to be free.

Reading Notes: A stand-alone story, this expands on the plight of humanity in the galaxy, which is touched upon in Lift-off. Also gives you a glimpse of the culture of the Kataw, and why they have the reputation that they do (as seen a bit in Devourers of Light and Black Mark).

Folklore Notes: The Dalakitnon are one of the “elves” mentioned in our folklore. Kataw is another name for Sirena.

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Trese 5 will be available nationwide very soon, so as has become something of a tradition for each launch, I shot a few questions out to Trese scribe Budjette Tan. I wanted to make the interview accessible to those who haven’t yet read the book, but also wanted to ask him about specific things from Book 5, so I’ve divided the interview into spoiler-free and spoiler-filled sections. I warn everyone when we hit spoiler territory, so those who go beyond the red line, do so at your own risk!

Thanks once again to Budjette for making the time.

SPOILER-FREE PORTION

The Trese 5 release seems to have taken quite a few people by surprise — was it a conscious choice not to promote the launch heavily until you were sure you’d make the Komikon?

HAHAHA! Yeah, I guess I didn’t want to jinx it. We turned over the cover to Visprint sometime early October and we were emailing pages to be proofread every time we finished a batch of them. So, we turned over the final pages to Visprint five days before the Komikon! HAHAHA! I don’t know what kind of magic spell Nida, our publisher, had to weave to make everything ready by Komikon but we are extremely happy and thankful that Visprint pulled it off. Even though I’m used to getting stuff done just minutes before the deadline, it’s always scary. I’ve already drafted the “ideal schedule” for Book 6. Let’s see if we can keep to the sched. HAHAHA!

With Trese 4 launched almost in October 2011, and Trese 5 being launched at the October Komikon, are you aiming for a new volume every October?

Yup! That’s the plan! If me and Kajo keep to our scheds and don’t get distracted by other projects then it’s possible for us to release a book once a year.

While you ventured back into the realm of episodic stories with Trese 4, this volume seems more similar to Trese 3 in that it is basically one story — only instead of being about resolving plot threads (as in Trese 3), here you’ve laid the ground work for the future. Is this book is the start of another three volume arc?

Like I mentioned in the Afterword, this story was only supposed to be a 20-page single-shot issue. But if I followed that outline, I guess I might have just ended up copying the structure of [Redacted - sharp eyed readers may spot a clue to a revelation from Trese 5 if we told you the title of the case Budj mentions here - Ed. Note].

But when those ideas from Kajo and that idea from Yvette Tan’s story came into play, the story just ran away and became a full graphic novel.

Is this laying the ground work for another thee volume arc? I don’t know. I just make this up as I go along. HEHEHE

Has the popularity of the Kambal surprised you? They display their personalities more here than in previous volumes, and I was wondering if this was you giving the readers more of what they want.

Yup, considering how they didn’t have much speaking lines in the first two books, I’m surprised at much of a following they’ve generated. Also surprising how much Happy/Long-Haired/Basilio seems to have a bigger fanbase compared to Gloomy and even Trese herself.

I do keep in mind what readers say and post. If it’s an idea worth exploring then I try to toss it into the mix.

And this was one of those moments when the Kambal just took over and the lines just came out.

Book 5 was generally written “Marvel style”. Since we were rushing this for the Komikon, I was sending Kajo scripts which just had general descriptions of the action. So, when I finally got the pages, I had to figure out what they were saying and the Kambal just filled in the lines themselves, looking at how Kajo drew their expression or their actions, it was just easy and fun to fill in their dialogue.

With each volume, Trese’s abilities increase — or at least she shows more of them. Do you ever worry about her becoming too powerful, too competent?

Nice observation. Will keep that in mind. Thanks, Paolo!

I remember someone else making that comment based on the first three books (maybe you were the one that made the comment) that Trese is always in control of the situation and never seems to falter. So, I tried to show that she’s not always perfect in Book 4; tried to make her sweat a bit before she gets to solve the mystery. (hehehe)

But she did learn a lot while she was in the Great Balete Tree. So, I guess she’s just showing us more of the stuff she already knows. Which only means, I’ll need to give her bigger, badder challenges.

You’ve always created characters which seem to have real life analogues — as with a certain famed boxer in the last volume — and this volume ratchets that up a notch. When do you decide to create a brand new character, and when do you pull more liberally from real life personas?

I’ve never really thought about that. I guess if the story calls for it, then I’ll make a new one or base them from some real life person.

If I’m paying tribute to a character or a creation, then I’ll toss in some Easter eggs from that characters history, as a way of paying tribute to him / her.

When I originally started TRESE, it was heavily influenced by Warren Ellis’ Planetary. So, I do plan / hope to explore more of Pinoy pop culture. The funny thing about Pinoy pop culture is that we tend to blur the lines between fiction and reality. I still remember the story (supposed a true story) of how an FPJ movie was shown in Mindanao. At the end of the movie, FPJ’s character died. The audience, all of them were big fans of FPJ, got so angry that FPJ’s character got killed, pulled out their guns and shot the movie screen, taking aim at the bad guy that killed FPJ.

So, if I were to make an FPJ analog, then his story might become a mix and mash up his history as an actor, movie director, Panday, and his attempt at a political career – all because that’s how we Pinoys see him.

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The 2012 year-end Komikon is this Saturday, and while I hope Rocket Kapre readers have all added Mythspace to their pull lists, there are a lot of great new titles coming out, so best hit the ATMs before hitting the Bayanihan Center. One of the most eagerly anticipated releases is, of course, Trese Book 5: Midnight Tribunal, by the team of Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo. Budjette was kind enough to provide us a sneak preview of the volume, where we see hapless “morgue man” (and star of Budjette’s Trese story in “Alternative Alamat” ) Spunky in a bit of a pickle, and see the Trese once again shooting down the (awesome) ideas of the Kambal. Plus, some concept art!

TRESE 5: Midnight Tribunal
ISBN: 971-05451-8-3
Creators: Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo
SRP: P150.00

“In a city where the aswang control everything that is illegal and where ancient gods seek to control everything else, enforcing the law can be a very difficult task.

When crime takes a turn for the weird, the police normally call Alexandra Trese. Lately, it seems like others have been taking that call.

Trese must confront these supernatural crime-fighters and bring order back to the city, before the underworld attempts to seek balance in its own way.”

Great news for fans of webcomics: Honoel “Hai” Ibardolaza’s Komikon award-nominated webcomic “By Moon Alone” is once again updating. The updates on the 1st and 8th of October are the first back-to-back weekly updates that the comic has had since 2009, and I know that Hai has been dying to get back into the swing of things. I’ll try to get Hai on the blog to answer some questions, but until then, rejoice!

“You are wise to doubt the tales of your youth…
… but all myths, all monsters, are founded on truth.”

MYTHSPACE. A Philippine Mythological Space Opera.

Mythspace: Liftoff Issue #0 will be available at the Rocket Kapre booth at the 2012 Komikon, on October 27 at the Bayanihan Center, Pasig. This is my first comic since High Society, and I’m very excited about it. More information coming soon!

EDIT: Just received an update from Komikon that our stage time has been moved from 300pm to 330pm. Please adjust your schedules accordingly

I’m proud to announce that the first issue of Kwentillion, a young-adult themed comics+fiction+features magazine (print only as of now, but digital in a few months) that I’m co-editing with Budjette Tan (Trese), will be launched this Saturday, 3:00 3:30 p.m. at the Summer Komikon, and will be available in stores soon after (we’ll hopefully have a few copies to sell at the Komikon, but that’ll only be a handful.)

This run is something of a test, and if the issue performs well, it could become a regular magazine. I’ve talked about this project a bit on Facebook and Twitter, and in a recent Buhay Indie post,but I haven’t had the time to plug it yet here on Rocket Kapre.

Kwentillion is a bi-monthly (eventually, we hope), black and white magazine (with an eight-page colored spread every issue) that features reviews and previews of young adult books, interviews with creators, and articles which tackle a wide variety of topics of interest to the YA community. For this issue, the story contents are reprints:

• For comics, we have “The Last Datu” by Budjette Tan & Kajo Baldisimo, “Poso Maximo:A Fair Trade” by Robert Magnuson, “High Society” by myself and Hannah Buena, “Skygypsies” by TJ Dimacali and JohnRay Bumanglag;
• For prose, we’re reprinting Andrew Drilon’s “The Secret Origin of Spin-Man”.

We have interviews with Chester Ocampo (who also did the cover – you can see a draft below), and Manix Abrera, YA book previews from YA book bloggers Chachic Fernandez and Tina Matanguihan, a discourse on the benefits of fanfiction by Anna Sanchez, and the first of what I hope will be a regular column from YA advocate and blogger Tarie Sabido. We’ve got a feature on Filipino artists to follow online, showcasing their art as part of the 8 page colored spread. We also have resources for aspiring writers and artists: “How to Draw a Tikbalang” from Trese artist Kajo Baldisimo, and a primer on Philippine Folk Magic, written by me and illustrated by our Alternative Alamat artist Mervin Malonzo.

Kwentillion, I think, could be a great boon to Filipino readers and creators. It’s important that Philippine comics be regularly and widely available, in a quality printed format. It’s important that more Philippine young adult content be created, so our young people have the option of reading about heroes/heroines who are more like them. It’s important that a publication exists that treats those popular yet oft disparaged genres – YA, science fiction/fantasy, comics – with an enthusiastic heart, a respectful attitude, and a critical eye.

I’m sure the first issue isn’t perfect – I promise you we’ll do everything we can to improve every issue, but to do that, we need this small 3,000 print run to be a smashing success. If you’re a fan of YA books or comics, an avid SFF reader or an aspiring creator, if you feel the same gnawing hunger I do when I look at the bookstore shelves and dream of what could be there… now’s the time to be heard.

Summer Komikon, Bayanihan Center, Pasig City. Saturday, May 26, 3:00 p.m. See you there.

Here's one of the work-in-progress sketches Chester (Ocampo) sent us. The official cover will be revealed on Saturday.

Flipside Publishing has partnered up with the 2012 Summer Komikon to hold a 24-Hour Comic Creation contest, with three winners receiving publishing contracts with Flipside Publishing, for digital releases of their comics. Registration will take place on April 25, 2012 to May 16, 2012. Komixathon itself will be held between noon of May 19, 2012 to noon of May 20, 2012. Registered users will receive a username and password which will allow them to upload their comics to Flipside’s servers during those two days. Interested participants can email adam@flipside.ph to register. You can read more details here.

Lest anyone forget, the annual Philippine Comic/Komiks Convention, or Komikon, will be held tomorrow, Saturday, from 10AM to 7PM at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig (across Pioneer Supermarket).  Don’t miss out on the cornucopia of indie comic offerings, not to mention what may be your only chance to get a physical copy of High Society. I’ll be at the Flipside Digital Content booth with less than a hundred copies of High Society ready to sell, and I might have to leave at around 5PM so that’s your window of opportunity.  My partner in crime, the amazing Hannah Buena, will be at the con as well, but–being as in demand as she is–she’ll be flitting from booth to booth, so your best time to get your copies signed by Hannah will be sometime after lunch, maybe around 3PM.

Beneath the cut is a map of the venue–Flipside is at E-31 to E-32, so that’s where I’ll be. Looking forward to seeing everyone there! (And here’s a map to the Bayanihan Center if you need directions.) And, of course, there will be many other komiks at the con, most of which are only available during conventions. Macoy has a partial list and Flipgeeks has some previews as does the 100 Araw ng Komiks Facebook community.

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Bonus Art from "High Society" artist Hannah Buena

Some news on the High Society front: first off, the comic is part of the Kindle Komix Krazy giveaway of Flipreads. You can click the link for more detailed  instructions, but basically all you need to do is send in a picture of yourself using a Kindle or a Kindle App, write a bit about your love of local comics, and you’ll get High Society on the Kindle for free. If you’d rather pay for your copy–and hey, I certainly wouldn’t turn that down–High Society is also currently going for a reduced price of $0.99 (US price) for a limited time.

Edit: If you’re reading this before November 18, Tina is also giving out a free Kindle copy of High Society to someone who comments on her review of the comic.

If you’d rather get your copies from the iTunes store,you can get your copy here. As I also mentioned yesterday, you can also get an ePub or PDF copy from Flipreads, the new Philippine digital bookstore, here.

Of course, there are also readers who’d prefer a physical copy of High Society (whether instead of or in addition to the digital one), and if so, do pass by the Flipside table at this Saturday’s (November 19) annual Komikon, at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig. We’ll be selling a limited number of photocopied versions of High Society, and Hannah and I should both be at the table at some point (probably not for the whole day) for anyone who wants signed copies. And hey, you know what? If you bring your digital copy of High Society on your ereading device (Kindle, iDevice, Android, Laptop, etc.) I’ll sell you the physical copy at a discounted price.

For prospective readers still on the fence about whether or not High Society is for them, you can check out reviews from some of the country’s most popular komiks review sites: Flipgeeks has comments from Norby Ela and Earl Maghirang; Mark Rosario, on the other hand, reviews High Society at Planet Markus.

Edit: We’ve also begun to receive reviews from intrepid book bloggers, such as Tina over at One More Page, one of the few readers who’ve seen both the old and new versions of “High Society”–lucky for us, she liked both versions.